Prior to about 1985, network interface devices were usually located indoors, where their exposure to adverse environmental conditions and resulting corrosion or other damage was minimal. At the present time, however, the devices are typically mounted upon the outside walls of subscriber buildings. Even when located within enclosures, connector components of the devices are subject to damage caused by incursion of moisture, insects, debris, salt fog and the like, particularly if the components are not shielded from such matter by protective sealant material. Such damage impairs the performance and lessens the useful life of components of the assemblies. This is particularly true of the component of the RJ11 or other network interface device (NID) that separates the telephone company equipment from the subscriber's equipment.
Another deficiency of many of the existing NID is that the connections between the telephone company drop wires and the subscriber wires must be done by a person manually stripping and twisting the wires and then securing the same in place by nuts, washers and the like. The foregoing tedious procedure is rendered even more difficult when, as is frequently the case, the enclosure containing the network interface assemblies is so congested as to not permit ready access to the wires and terminals. When the network interface assembly includes a plurality of discrete units that are separately connected to each other and/or to the box within which they are housed, as is usually the case, identification and rectification of a malfunction may require testing of a number of the units, disconnection of the malfunctioning unit or units from the others and/or from the box, and replacement of them with new units. This also increases the time and expense of field servicing of the assemblies.